It's official: Disney has purchased Fox's entertainment division (including the X-Men and the Fantastic Four), in one of the most stunning moves since, well, the last time Disney did something like this. The Mouse House ” which seems bent on slowly and systematically taking over all of film and television ” owns every one of Fox's media properties and franchises. Avatar. The Simpsons. Alien. Planet of the Apes. Even The X-Files!But none of those are probably more important than Marvel Studios (also owned by Disney) reacquiring the film and television rights to one of its most popular properties, after almost two decades of having to keep its hands off: the X-Men. Fans have been quick to assume this means that Avengers characters will soon mix things up with Fox's existing roster of X-Men on the big screen... But is that really how Marvel will handle it?Related: Disney & Fox Finalize Deal; Includes X-Men & AvatarThough Disney may have tied the new Star Wars trilogy heavily to the original trilogy, incorporating the movie version of the X-Men into the Marvel Cinematic Universe would be far more complicated. Here's why it makes far more sense for Marvel to scrap Fox's entire X-history, and start over from scratch.

Time

Tony Stark, Bruce Banner, Doctor Strange, and Wong in Avengers Infinity War

The Avengers movies and all of the solo character flicks that are part of Marvel's Cinematic Universe more or less keep with the real world's date. In 2017, it's 2017 in Marvel's movies, too.

One exception was Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2, which was set just a few months after the first movie. But Avengers: Infinity War will get the Guardians' timeline all caught up with the rest of the MCU. Another pending exception is Captain Marvel, which Marvel's head honcho Kevin Feige says is set in the 90s. But since Carol Danvers (Brie Larson) is expected to be a major figure in the MCU going forward, it's safe to assume she'll catch up to the modern day somehow as well.

Over in Fox's X-Men universe, X-Men: The Last Stand was so awful that it caused the studio to eventually rewind the films to the 1960s, rebooting the entire franchise with X-Men: First Class. Each subsequent film has jumped forward by roughly a decade (though the characters don't appear to age), and the upcoming X-Men: Dark Phoenix will continue that trend, bringing the action into the 1990s.

So... 2017 and the 1990s. Aside from the logistics of combining these disparate timelines... How would you explain why Tony Stark and S.H.I.E.L.D. have been completely ignoring the many, many superpowered mutants all around the world? Likewise, why haven't the modern-day X-Men ever dialed the Avengers and asked for help all those times Magneto or some other villain tried to kill them?

The big screen's Avengers and X-Men are separated by 30-some years. Combining them would require folding time, merging alternate universes, or some other ridiculously complicated scifi rigamarole. If they forego that, Disney would have to come up with a really good story reason for these characters to have been ignoring each other for decades.

Blank Slate

Tom Holland as Spider-Man in Spider-Man Homecoming

When Marvel Studios at long last got its hands on Spider-Man thanks to its partnership with Sony, Marvel rebooted the character completely, ditching any connections to previous Spider-Men in order to make him fit into the MCU. Doesn't it follow that they'll do the exact same thing with the X-Men, to make those characters and stories their own?

Rather than being beholden to all the baggage that comes with Fox's messy, contradictory continuity, imagine the appeal of starting with a clean slate. A blank canvas gives Marvel the opportunity to do justice to classic X-Men stories that Fox's films have never attempted ” or bungled.

For example, Fox has made a habit of cherry-picking X-Men from different eras and teams to use in its movies. Starting over means that Marvel could start with the mutant race "awakening" right here in the present day. They could even kick things off with a movie where the original five X-Men ” Cyclops, Jean Grey, Beast, Iceman, and Angel ” come together, and then build the roster from there.

Chris Pratt as Peter Quill in Guardians of the Galaxy Vol 2

Casting

Here we have a major problem for Disney. Purging Fox's work on the X-Men means that Marvel would have to recast every single role, which is a mighty big task. Fan-favorite actors like Patrick Stewart (Professor X), Jennifer Lawrence (Mystique), and Hugh Jackman (Wolverine) will be difficult to replace.

But Marvel has demonstrated a keen knack for finding inspired choices to fill its superheroes' shoes. Robert Downey, Jr. as Tony Stark was a brilliant gamble. Casting a morally uncompromising Captain America was particularly difficult, but after considering dozens of actors, Marvel made a savvy choice by giving Chris Evans what has become his defining role. Nobody ever expected Chris Pratt to become an A-list movie star, but Marvel saw his potential and made him the lead in Guardians of the Galaxy.

The list goes on and on. If anyone can cast a new generation of talented actors to fill the shoes of crucial mutant characters like Jean Grey, Cyclops, or Magneto, it's Marvel.

The Logan Factor

After putting in nine appearances as Wolverine, Hugh Jackman has hung up his claws, going out with a very fitting sendoff in Logan. On the one hand, merging the two universes would mean that Marvel wouldn't be able to have Wolverine, one of Marvel Comics' most popular characters. He has wide-ranging appeal, well outside of the X-Men, and served as an Avenger for years in comic books.

On the other hand, Jackman has told the media that the one and only way he'd return to the role is if he had a chance to act opposite the Avengers. Now that that's a real possibility... Jackman has done a fantastic job in the role, but he's aged out of it. He'll be 50 in less than a year. He can still take on action and adventure movies at that age (just look at 55-year-old Tom Cruise). But Logan's healing ability means that his body ages impossibly slowly. He looks young even though he's quite old. So unless Marvel decides to induct "Old Man Logan" into the Marvel Universe, Jackman can't realistically pull it off anymore. He proved this himself by playing a much older version of his character in Logan.

Take it to the bank: There is absolutely no way Marvel will bring the X-Men into the Marvel Cinematic Universe without Wolverine. He's the most popular mutant character among hundreds, and one of Marvel Comics' crown jewels. So add it to the list of reasons Marvel will reboot the X-Men: Marvel would have its very own Wolverine for the big screen, likely a 20- or 30-something actor who could keep the role for the next decade or two.

Exceptions?

Deadpool

All of that said, Disney would be crazy not to leave Deadpool alone and let those movies do their own thing. With his self-aware tone and R-rated antics, the big screen's version of Deadpool (Ryan Reynolds) is only apocryphally associated with the X-Men, anyway. Admittedly, this "leave him alone" scenario would get tricky when Deadpool 2 leads to X-Force, which involves a number of other major mutant characters. Not to mention the fact that Josh Brolin would have two roles in the MCU (Cable and Thanos). But it could be sorted out.

Legion on FX should probably be left alone, too. That series has carved out a truly unique niche for itself, and isn't affected by the X-movies.

At the end of the day, all that matters is that Marvel Studios now owns the X-Men, and will undoubtedly find the right formula to turn all those mutants into the same box office gold that the Avengers have been.

More: Every Movie Franchise Disney Has Bought From Fox